Baby born outside USA, does he qualifies as Dependent and for child tax credit?

[alokforu2006]

My child was born in March 2017 in India. After birth he stayed in India with his mom for 5 months and then he arrived to USA in August 2017. The child stayed in USA for 5 months (153 days) with family. All the child expenses were taken care by me.

I have following 2 questions:

1. Does he qualifies as a dependent?
2. Is he eligible for Child Tax Credit? (I think not given he is not a resident for tax filing purpose, as he doesn’t qualify for 183 days rule and he didn’t stay with me in US since birth)

Appriciate your response.

Thanks for your help

[CarolynM]

No he does not qualify as a dependent nor for the Child Tax Credit. Even though the IRS would give credit for the entire year since he was born in March, he has not lived with you in the US most of his life. 

To claim your child as a dependent, all of the following conditions must be met: 

*            be your child (or adoptive or foster child), sibling, niece, nephew or grandchild; 

*            be under age 19, or under age 24 and a fulltime student for at least five months of the year; or be permanently disabled, regardless of age; 

*            have lived with you for more than half the year; and

*            have provided no more than half his or her own support for the year.

To claim the Child Tax Credit:

·       Child must be younger than age 17 by December 31

·       Must by your child (biological, step, adopted or foster); brother or sister; niece, nephew or grandchild

·       Must provide half their support

·       Must be claimed as your dependent (see Qualifying Child Test) 

·       Must be US Citizen, US National or Resident Alien 

·       Must live with you more than half the year

If you want to claim him in 2018, you will need to get him a Social Security Number. 

[alokforu2006]

Thanks for your reply. My child was in India for 152 days after birth and he stayed in USA for 153 days with me, doesn't that mean "he lived with me more than half of the year" considering he was born in march.
Also, he was staying in India after birth primarily due to medical situation.
Considering above, I felt he should be considered atleast dependent and may be qualified for Child Tax Credit.

Please share your thoughts.

[CarolynM]

I think it the IRS does not have an exception for days out of the country for medical reasons. I think you could claim he lived with you the entire year if you were with him in India, but from the facts presented, you lived apart from him until he came to the US. If you lived with him during the months in India enough to take be "more than half the year," you could claim him as a dependent. However, I still don't think you will qualify for the Child Tax Credit because he doesn't meet the residency requirements. If you do claim him, and he doesn't have a tax payer identification number, you will need to paper file and apply for an ITIN until he has a SSN.

[checkytube]

"To claim your child as a dependent, he must have lived with you for more than half the year". Is this applicable for US born children?